Learn how to grow and use medicinal herbs, adaptogen herbs such as Jiaogulan, and herbal medicine to create vibrant health and an enriched life style. There are a number of herbs you can grown at home which is fun and great for your health.
Learn Tips on feeding your pets and livestock naturally with organic greens such as Comfrey, Kudzu, plantain, and Moringa. Get back to your roots in a healthy way.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Fall is here and temperatures here in TN are down to the low 50's at night. The hummingbirds are gone a month early so I feel that is a sign of an early winter. I decided it was time to bring my Neem and Moringa trees in the house and get them situated. I wanted also to try out the new grow lights on the plants. The lights had almost 1000 comments, most of them great. One thing I learned from the comments is placing the lights too close can damage them. Even thought these do not put out heat, it still can be an issue. Directions come in the bulbs. We will see how these grow lights affect the Neem seedlings which seem to be stuck in growth. These will not run up your light bill, they are 12 Watt LED lights designed for plant growth.

Last year did not go well with the trees in the back room. Even with the heater on, they did not thrive nor survive. I had them in the back room to keep our cats, especially one of ours, from eating the trees. He ate several babies last year down to the ground. I did not grow a lot of trees this year because they all have to come back into the house for the winter months. I lost the big ones I had during the winter. I put them out on the porch in the sun, forgot them, it rained and they got really soaked. They never did dry out properly after that. Will grow more next year. This year with bringing his dad back to live with us, I wanted less work to do. Now that things have smoothed out, I can do more outside and with the trees.

I am posting pictures today of the kitchen set up and I want you to look at it carefully on why I arranged things the way I did. So far its been two weeks and all the plants have survived our cats. We have one who is really bad about eating things he shouldn't. That is Smokey, the cat in front.

Picture #1 shows their placement in the kitchen. The kitchen window on the right has several lanterns on the windowsill? That is to keep the cats from walking the windowsill edge to jump into the pots. My juicer is sitting on the edge of the sink to make it harder for him to reach the other windowsill. I use it there anyway

1st picture of their new home for the winter in the kitchen. One Moringa is 4 feet and the rest are smaller.

The 20 gal containers are put up on small metal patio tables to make it harder for them to get into the containers.

The plastic plant drain tray underneath was purchased from Amazon to catch any water drainage. They are very heavy duty and sturdy. They run around $15-20 dollars a piece, often on sale. The plant in the middle is located in the middle of the freezer area and the end of our sink. This is again to make it harder for them to jump into. The plants are between the two best windows in the kitchen. I have the curtains pulled back to let in more light. Picture #5 shows the new grow light we bought with led lights. Uses very little electricity and gives a beautiful glow to the kitchen corner. Anyone could see by looking in the window, we are NOT growing anything illegal. The light was $20 bucks on sale on Amazon. They are guaranteed to last a year. The light needs to be on 12 hours a day to do the job.

Grow light over plants #5 You can see the one tall Moringa is this picture. I took all its leaves off due to a spider mite infestation outside. It is just now growing back more leaves and branches.

Keeping the cats from invading the plant soil and eating your plants is a challenge. I use wooden barbecue skewers with the point up. It has worked so far. Does not feel good on cat paws or chins.The largest tree here is the Neem on the left. It does not taste good so the cats are not prone to eating that. It still has the sticks in it to keep them from using it as a toilet.

#3 barbecue wooden skewers from the Dollar Store. These little trees are still struggling with several finally breaking out and growing more. These are seedlings that got frozen on the way over here. I have refused to give up on them. I am hoping the grow lights make the difference in getting them moving.

The white powder in the bottom of the containers is Food Grade Diatomaceous earth which will keep the gnats and flies from breeding in the soil. All these plants don't need much water so that helps. The DE does not work well when wet. They will need very little water inside. Don't bring the plant containers in soaked. Let them dry out outside before bringing them indoors. They will not dry out and root rot will kill the trees.

DE will not hurt any of the animals if they ate it or got their paws in it. It is only kills insects and spiders. Put the DE immediately over the soil after bringing the plant inside. Watch for spider mite infestation. I am going to spray them them C. Silver not that I am making my own. That will be a good test for it this winter.

This is top of the tallest one. It is just now growing back leaves.

All these Neem trees were from the same batch...only two really took off. They do grow slowly over the first two years without a greenhouse.

#3 Neem tree almost 4 feet high

#4 Neem plant growing back after leaves were pulled off due to a problem. It seems to love the grow light. I had it out on the porch and it was not doing much out there. See the little branches breaking out of the stem.

I have been using Cat's Claw for years after a car accident where I broke ribs, took the dashboard out with my knees, and compromised my kidney. Even though that was years ago, I still have some after affects from that nearly deadly accident. It was in the years where seat belts were not required yet. I fell asleep at the wheel and landed straddled over a concrete water canal in El Centro. I sat there for a long time in pain with broken ribs before emergency came and got me safely out of my truck and onto solid ground. Most cars end up face down in those canals with dead drivers. Every year a number of people drown in those canals. I was divorced then with no insurance so after a trip to emergency, they sent me home. They did not realize I had a concussion either. Short term memory loss was an everyday frustration for over a year. One of the positive things was my great chiropractor then, who I used every week. It was his healing help over many weeks and some effective anti-inflammatory herbs that over time got me back on my feet. One of these herbs was Cat's Claw along with INF from New Sun that is an anti-inflammatory combination of Chinese herbs. I still take it because it supports my kidneys that have not been the same since that car accident. I really believe in Cat's Claw and the other herbs I take. When I was on vacation twice, I did not take them as I normally do. Within a few days, pain came back in my knees and hands. Today I published an article on Cat's Claw in my article directory. I am a Master Herbalist, but a medical researcher as well. I love research and discovery of new information. Often, a short blog cannot cover a topic deeply enough to satisfy my sense of education. My passion is real education not entertaining blogs about fashion or beauty. I love natural medicine and teaching people about the problems with drugs and standard medicine. I feel it is my mission to set people on a path for real healing, not drugs that are given for one health problem and create 10 more deadly ones. Many of you are being led into a life that consists of better living? through drugs, chemicals, and additives. In the future I am going to be publishing more in-depth articles on different topics. I will give a brief glimpse into the article in hopes you will read the full article in the directory. Your time will not be wasted.Cat's Claw is an amazing herb with benefits for painful arthritis, even RA. It is a great immune booster and has shown a list of benefits you won't believe. It is one of my standards for healing myself and others. So the article is here. Please read the article here and learn how it might just help with your health problem.

I have been using Cat's Claw for years after a car accident where I broke ribs, took the dashboard out with my knees, and compromised my kidney. Even though that was years ago, I still have some after affects from that nearly deadly accident. It was in the years where seat belts were not required yet. I fell asleep at the wheel and landed straddled over a concrete water canal in El Centro. I sat there for a long time in pain with broken ribs before emergency came and got me safely out of my truck and onto solid ground. Most cars end up face down in those canals with dead drivers. Every year a number of people drown in those canals. I was divorced then with no insurance so after a trip to emergency, they sent me home. They did not realize I had a concussion either. Short term memory loss was an everyday frustration for over a year. One of the positive things was my great chiropractor then, who I used every week. It was his healing help over many weeks and some effective anti-inflammatory herbs that over time got me back on my feet. One of these herbs was Cat's Claw along with INF from New Sun that is an anti-inflammatory combination of Chinese herbs. I still take it because it supports my kidneys that have not been the same since that car accident. I really believe in Cat's Claw and the other herbs I take. When I was on vacation twice, I did not take them as I normally do. Within a few days, pain came back in my knees and hands. Today I published an article on Cat's Claw in my article directory. I am a Master Herbalist, but a medical researcher as well. I love research and discovery of new information. Often, a short blog cannot cover a topic deeply enough to satisfy my sense of education. My passion is real education not entertaining blogs about fashion or beauty. I love natural medicine and teaching people about the problems with drugs and standard medicine. I feel it is my mission to set people on a path for real healing, not drugs that are given for one health problem and create 10 more deadly ones. Many of you are being led into a life that consists of better living? through drugs, chemicals, and additives. In the future I am going to be publishing more in-depth articles on different topics. I will give a brief glimpse into the article in hopes you will read the full article in the directory. Your time will not be wasted.Cat's Claw is an amazing herb with benefits for painful arthritis, even RA. It is a great immune booster and has shown a list of benefits you won't believe. It is one of my standards for healing myself and others. So the article is here. Please read the article here and learn how it might just help with your health problem.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Its a beautiful day here in TN. Before I get into the main blog, I have some thoughts on living in TN and acclimating to the South. We will have lived here two years in Jan.

Part of our property where the chickens run free in the afternoon.

Fall is here and it is cooling down. Soon the leaves will begin falling. When we moved here, we were overwhelmed with the amount of leaves to rake with over three acres consisting of rocks, trees, and hilly terrain. I was overwhelmed with the power mowing. Most people here in TN have riding lawn mowers with multiple acreage. It is now almost two years later, we now tackle it as any huge job, one area at a time. We work together to rake and mow the areas. We don't think, we work. The leaves go to the chicken coop yard, which they love. They get excited when we add new leaves. They scratch and look for bugs. The leaf work goes to a great cause, which makes it more enjoyable.

As an overly independent woman, I learned the real value of working together here in TN. It would be so difficult if only one of us had to do ALL of it. The more we are together, the more I learn the value of a partnership working together. I was always one to enjoy working on my own, doing the job, and getting it done. I chose work where I knew my job and did it, not needing supervision. I am internally driven and motivated. There is value to that as well. It seems in life though, that there are jobs that are just so much easier when tackled by a team or partnership. I have learned that asking for help with a project, is not a weakness but a sign of seeing the value of added expertise or brawn. My husband can command the power mower on the side of the bank much better than I can. He does much better with chain saws. I am just not as strong as he is. It takes so much stress off, to give him those jobs.

So in my middle age, I have learned to be a team player and that is good. I think that personalities who play by themselves all too well, need to become more moderate, learning to know when to combine forces to make life easier.

I can honestly say, my husband has taught me so much about love and the value of working together over the years. He has also infused in me a sense of humor, which was lacking from a too serious German personality. I was 20 before I learned how to smile. I have two older sisters and it seems I inherited the more serious German nature from my father. Germans are hard workers but need more laughter and humor to counterbalance the work side. Laughter lightens the load and creates laugh lines rather than frown lines. I so wish I had learned that earlier in life.

How will you protect your Moringa this winter?It is time to consider steps to safeguard your Moringa for the coming cooler temperatures. Are you going to leave it outside or bring it indoors? One freeze will kill them.

Keep track of the lows each week, so you can save your winter sensitive plants. I have a whole patio of them including three or four 20 gal containers. This year they are going to the kitchen where we keep the heater on and where there is more light. They did not survive well in the back room, even with a heater. Both Neem and Moringa lost all their leaves. Not all the Moringa survived. They did not dry out at all in the back room which led to root rot on several. I left them out on the porch and there was an unexpected rain. It drenched them. They never dried out properly from that mistake. I have them right now on the front covered porch. We get so much rain and many surprise showers, that I cannot leave them out in the open yard. The Neem trees are hardier than the Moringa. I have one Neem that is 3 feet high. The rest are still small. The first 2 years are slow for Neem seedings, unless you have a greenhouse.

Article published on Autism yesterday. I published an article yesterday in my article directory on the risk of Vitamin C deficiency with autistic children. I would suggest that all children these days are prone to vitamin deficiencies, because of the junk they eat such as soda and high sugar foods. If you know anyone with an autistic child, pass on the article. If you have children, I suggest you read it. Here is the article here.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

I often get emails on the seeds and how to tell the root from the tree sprout itself. See the second and third one from the left with it tiny green end.

If you look at the 4th example from the left, you will see the tree sprout on the right and the root on the left. They emerge out of the seed from the same point. Often either the root or the tree shoot will sprout first.

Wait until both emerge, before planting in this method. The tree sprout will be white with the end light green.

Do not break off the root or you will kill the seedling.

You plant them very carefully by gently laying them in a hole with the root down into the soil, the tree sprout up straight then fill in around it.

Depending on how the root is growing, is how to determine how you place it in the hole. Some roots grown downward or some grow to the side. Just make a depression in the soil to accommodate the root structure.

Use organic soil with plenty of organic material that drains well. Water in when you plant the sprout. Don't get them too wet or the seedlings will mold. Moist but not soggy. Don't water until they feel dry. Don't put them in direct hot sun but indirect light until they are stronger and bigger.

The above pictures are new seedlings with their first leaves. Given sunlight and warmth, they grow like weeds. The first picture is seedlings growing in starter packs. The second picture show seedlings grown in a 20 gallon container. You can grow several in a 20 gal black container.

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